Legs no growing, squat ATG

just found a intreasting read on squats. wich i will use for sure

Squat Setup. You’ll have to think about a lot of things at first. Study the tips below, start with an empty barbell, focus on your technique.

* Chest Up. Keeping your chest up makes lower back rounding impossible & tightening of your upper-back easier.
* Forward Look. Look down & your back will bend. Look at the ceiling & your neck will hurt. Look forward.
* Bar Position. Put the bar low, on the muscles of your back shoulders. Below the bone at the top of your shoulder-blades.
* Grip Width. Narrow grip makes it easier to tighten your upper-back. Do lots of shoulder dislocations if this position feels uncomfortable.
* Thumbless Grip. Put your thumbs on top of the bar, next to your fingers. You’ll be able to keep your wrists inline with your forearms.
* Straight Wrists. Your back supports the weight, not your hands. Keep your wrists inline with your forearm, never bend them.
* Tight Upper-back. Bring your shoulder-blades together. Tightening the upper-back gives the bar a solid base to rest on.
* Elbows Back. Don’t let them come forward during the Squat. Pushing your elbows back prevents elbows injuries.
* Foot Stance. A narrow stance doesn’t work for the low bar Squat. Heels should be shoulder-width apart.
* Toes Out. Point your toes out at about 30 degrees. Your toes must always follow your knees.
* Weight on The Heels. Curl your toes up if needed. Never get on your toes. Push from the heels.


Squatting Down. You have unracked the bar correctly. All muscles are tight & ready to Squat. Key to the low bar Squats are the hips.

* Hips Back. Think sitting on your toilet. Hips go back first, way back. If you can’t, you probably have tight hamstrings. Do the Squat Stretch.
* Knees Over Toes. Don’t let your knees travel forward in the bottom Squat position. Knees over the toes, not further.
* Knees Out. Never allow your knees to buckle in. It can cause knee injury. Push your knees out.
* Hit Parallel. Your hip joint must come lower than your knee joint. Ask someone to judge your depth or tape yourself. No Partial Squats.


Squatting Up. Your hip muscles are stretched when you hit parallel. Use that stretch to bounce from the bottom. DO NOT relax your hip muscles & DO NOT bounce off your knees. Keep your hip muscles tensed.

* Hips Up. If your hips come forward, your knees will also come forward. Drive your hips up straight out of the bottom.
* Squeeze Your Glutes. Power comes from the glutes. Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can while driving your hips up.
* Push From The Heels. Curl your toes up if needed. Don’t let your heels come off the floor. Push from the heels.
* Knees Out. Same as for the way down: don’t let your knees buckle in. Push your knees out.


Common Squat Problems. If you have someone to help you improve your Squat technique, great. Otherwise tape yourself and use the following tips or Starting Strength to improve your Squat technique.

* Lower Back Rounds. Keep your chest up & do the Squat Stretch. Read why your lower back rounds during Squats & how to fix it.
* Leaning Forward. Happens when your hips go up faster than your shoulders. Read how to avoid leaning forward on Squats.
* Bent Wrists. Will cause wrist pain once the bar gets heavy. Support the weight with your back muscles, not with your wrists.
* Knees In. You have weak and/or tight hip muscles. Do the Squat Stretch & actively push your knees out on every rep.
* Knees Forward. Move from the hips: hips back when Squatting down, hips up – not forward – when Squatting up.
* Heels Off The Floor. Puts stress on your knees & impairs stability. Curl your toes up and push from the heels.

Good read. I think a lot of people could benefit from this, myself included. I'm not completely sold on the feet out idea though. I think that just contributes to a tighter lateral head of the gastroc and that is the last thing most people need.

IRONY is all I have to say!

good info !!! thanks bro

One thing this doesn't address is hip mobility. Your low back rounds because you lack glute and hamstring flexibility/mobility. You need to do active stretching and maintain your neutral spine position.

Also agree with Creator, you can't just place your feet at X degrees. Foot placement should be determined by which way your knees travel.

tim290280 said:

One thing this doesn't address is hip mobility. Your low back rounds because you lack glute and hamstring flexibility/mobility. You need to do active stretching and maintain your neutral spine position.

Also agree with Creator, you can't just place your feet at X degrees. Foot placement should be determined by which way your knees travel.

Click to expand...

totally agree.

In addition, another little factor that people so easily skip is head placement during squats. If you look down, it actually places the spine in non-biomechanical position (unnaturally arched) and looking up curves the vertebrae so that the load is placed further on the hips and lumbar. = looking straight is best if possible.

It's really unrecognizable but if you're sitting down right now, look down. Your spine is displaced out of it's neutral position.

Just another aspect of the squat.